William A. Horning

Who was William A. Horning?

William Allen Horning was an American multiple Academy Award winner. He was married to Esther Montgomery until his death.

At the 31st Academy Awards ceremony for 1958, Horning received a posthumous Academy Award for Best Art Direction for that year's Best Picture winner, Gigi. The following year, he received two additional posthumous Oscar nominations, one for Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest and another for the 1959 epic film Ben-Hur. At the 32nd Academy Awards ceremony, Horning won the Academy Award for Best Art Direction for Ben-Hur, that year's Best Picture winner. Like producer Sam Zimbalist, Horning was awarded his second Oscar posthumously, as both he and Zimbalist had died while the movie was still being filmed. To date, Horning is the only individual ever to win posthumous Academy Awards in consecutive ceremonies.